Two more companies adopt MAP Policies

The big question in the board game industry right now is how to drive people to brick and mortar stores, and the current trend seems to be to institute a Minimum Advertised Price policy or MAP. So far we have had CMON and Iello both adopt such policies, and now two more companies add their names to the list; HABA and Asmodee. Asmodee’s policy is similar to CMON’s in that no product can be sold for less than 20% of it’s MSRP, online or in stores. What is good about this policy change is that in adopting a MAP, Asmodee has removed the restrictions to online sales, so online stores can now start carrying Asmodee products easily again. HABA’s policy is a little more strict in that all products must be sold for MSRP, and the only ones that can be discounted are the products that have been discontinued.

Will instituting these unilateral policies be good for the industry or will it lead to the bubble popping? We will just have to wait and see.

I'm an engineer manager by day, board game entusiast by night. I will play most anything once but I love adventure style games and cooperative games, or just playing games with my wife. Games like the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, TIME Stories, and 7th Continent really hit on all those marks for me and I love discovering new gems.
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